Blu-Ray Support

[Mr Wolf]

Mmmmm... I think the problem is with VLC itself and there's nothing you can do. Some blu-ray menus simply won't work.

Have you succeeded to make blu-rays play with VLC 3.0.5?

[MCKitch]

No. I'll give it a go and let you know.

Update: Tried 3.0.5. Other BDs (ISOs) play as before. Same experience with the problem BD (ISO) - VLC does not play menu sequence.

Forgot to mention in the original post. I've a feeling the issue has something to do with the way VLC handles region-coded BDs. From what I've read about region codes, many studios take a relaxed approach to it and don't always enforce it. I'm thinking that in this case the studio has enforced it. DVDFab PassKey did find that the disc was locked to region A but I tried setting the region to A, B and C in VLC with no success. As I've written, both the 'raw' ISO copy (with keys intact and added to the KEYDB file) and the PassKey ISO copy (with keys removed) can only be played in VLC with menus disabled. I'd really like to know how the DVDFab guys pulled off the trick in their media player!

[Mr Wolf]

I've just installed the latest DVDFab version, and, in the blu-ray settings, there's an option to remove the region code, and it's disabled by default. Actually, I can't understand why to leave it disabled.
However, maybe, you can give a look at it.

[MCKitch]

Good thought but, sadly, no change to the behaviour after creating a new ISO copy with 'country code' removed. On reflection, it's probably not surprising. Isn't 'country code' a DVD thing? I thought BDs only use 'region code'. At any rate, the menu sequence still does not show.

While I tried your suggestion out, I made another observation. I tried the 'raw' ISO copy in the DVDFab player and, while I still did not get the menu to display, it did come up with the language selection page. It accepted my choice of 'English' but did not proceed to the main menu. This is different behaviour from VLC which does not even display the language selection page. Perhaps some progress?

[Mr Wolf]

As far as I know, "country code" and "region code" are the same thing, but they are different for DVDs and blu-rays.
See for example here:
http://www.regionfreedvd.net/region-codes.html

By the way, I've updated some files.
Now, I'm using libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll from here:
https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/win64/
https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/win32/

Note that libbdplus.dll is not mentioned in the main page here:
https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name

libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll must be put in the VLC installation folder.

Then, I've updated the KEYDB.CFG with FindVUK, which must be put in a folder AACS in C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\AACS

In this AACS folder (I think it was created by AACS Updater), there are some folders and files, which I don't know if they are all necessary, except one folder: vm0, which you can download for example from here:
https://forum.doom9.org/attachment.php? ... 1390515451
I checked, and the size is the same identical as the one I already had.

I've tested ALL my blu-rays with VLC.
With the above configuration, with VLC 3.0.5, most of them crash when I try to play them, both with menu and without menu.

With VLC 3.0.4, they all play, except a couple, "Raging Bull" (both the Italian and the 30th anniversary UK blu-ray!!!!!) and "To live and die in L.A.". It says: "Your system BD+ decoding library does not work. Missing configuration?".
That's why I was looking for updated libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll.
Funny enough, "Raging Bull" and "To live and die in L.A." play with VLC 3.0.5, but without menu. With menu, a never seen before screen image says that my system is not updated.
So, the problem seems to concern VLC itself.

[Mr Wolf]

(I had to cut my answer because it exceeded the post lenght)

Other blu-rays (for example, "Blue velvet"), when played with menu, go straight to the movie and I can't reach the menu in any way, and I can see the other titles only when played without menu.
Other (for example, "Scarface") frezees for a while while opening menu.

So, some problems seem to depend on VLC, but in VLC 3.0.5 most of blu-rays won't work.
Or I don't know if there are other solutions.

[MCKitch]

3.0.5 is not treating you well is it

I don't seem to be experiencing the same issues. Apart from the menu support issue, 3.0.5 seems to handling my BD images (ISOs) OK both with and without menus. Perhaps it's time to try uninstalling VLC completely and starting again with a clean slate? Perhaps making sure any stray DLLs are also cleaned out just in case the uninstall wizard missed something. Perhaps also check the 'path' environment variable to make sure there are no DLLs of the same name being unexpectedly loaded. Are there any other environment variables that may be affecting VLC? I just used a 'vanilla' installation of (64-bit) 3.0.5 straight from the download page.

[Mr Wolf]

I updated to VLC 3 after almost an year (the first version had some annoying bug) from VLC 2.2.4 32 bit. I just uninstalled it (also removed its installation folder) and installed VLC 3.0.4 64 bit (after trying VLC 3.0.5).
Luckly, my configuration settings were almost intact.
Just copy libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll in VLC installation folder and be sure to have the AACS folder in C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\AACS with the vm0 folder and an updated KEYDB.cfg file and VLC should play blu-rays with the behaviour I reported: some blu-rays play straight, other have some issues. The fact that, for example, my "Raging Bull" blu-ray plays in VLC 3.0.5 but not in VLC 3.0.4 makes me think it has to do with VLC itself.
It's a long time I don't rip a blu-ray, so I don't have much experience.

[MCKitch]

Some observations.
1. My 'C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\AACS' folder does not have a 'vm0' folder so I'm wondering if it's necessary in order to accommodate AACS copy protection (provided, of course, you're using a key discovery tool like FindVUK or DVDFab)
2. As far as I can tell (by using FindVUK), none of my BDs have 'BD+' copy protection so I'm not sure if the 'vm0' folder is necessary for BD+ (which is additional protection to the standard AACS copy protection mechanism)
3. If your library of BDs does not have any discs with BD+ protection then I'd get rid of libbdplus.dll - just to reduce the number of problem sources
4. You need to be careful mixing 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the same-named DLL. If coded correctly, they should be OK but unless you know for sure I'd avoid mixing them
5. If you have the facilities, I'd recommend you set up a 'sandpit' environment on another Windows PC so you can test out this stuff and avoid interfering with your working setup
6. We need to be clear about what 'ripping' and 'copying' means. It took me a while to decide that I'd 'digitise' my DVD and BD library using exact ISO images of the disc format. In this way I think I can treat the ISO files as virtual discs. I define this as 'copying'. I define 'ripping' as taking the DVD or BD content and transforming it into another format. I came to the conclusion that 'copying' (to ISO images) better protects your investment in the discs you've purchased. Copy protection is an extra layer of complexity. FindVUK tacles the issue by 'finding' the appropriate key and storing it in a database (KEYDB.cfg). Fortunately, VLC understands the KEYDB.cfg file and uses it to play the content. The DVDFab guys take a different approach. They completely remove the key dependency from the ISO image so players like VLC think they are just playing an unprotected disc (or image).

Not sure if this helps you at all Mr Wolf (and apologies for the rambling).

Cheers,
Mike

[Mr Wolf]

Don't worry, I'm also making attempts to make things works, searching here and there.

To answer in order:
1) I'm pretty sure the AACS folder with the vm0 folder in it was made by the AACS Updater. However, I've just tried to play a few blu-rays after removing the vm0 folder and they play with no difference. So, perhaps it was necessary only with VLC 2.
2) The only blu-rays of mine that won't play in VLC 3.0.4 are "Raging Bull" and "To live and die in L.A.", and indeed VLC complains saying "Your system BD+ decoding library does not work. Missing configuration?". Since they play - without menu - with VLC 3.0.5, I think there's nothing I can do.
3) Removing the libbdplus.dll doesn't change anything, and I get the same error above. I tried to find a more recent version of that file, but nothing.
4) libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll are both 64 bit and are taken from here:
https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/win64/
5) I use virtual machines or I clone my OS on other disks to try things, especially for the first time, to avoid the risks to mess things up.
6) Ripping to me is to copy the whole DVD / blu-ray content (folders and files) with protection removed on the hard disk, for example with DVDFab. So, you make an iso from DVD / blu-ray, but untouched, with files still protected? I think (this works for sure with DVDs) you can directly open the iso with VLC (right click -> open with), without mounting the iso (DAEMON Tools?), just the same result as trying to open directly the DVD / blu-ray folder ripped on the hard disk (VLC -> Media -> Open folder). Just I'd be curious to know if this works also with protected DVD / blu-rays.

[jj94tt]

This thread has been invaluable in getting some difficult blu-rays to play. Thanks everyone!

One things that remains unclear: When playback seems to work but with many artifacts in the image (pixelation randomly across the image)... is that a VLC issue or a keys/lib issue? None of the suggested VLC setting changes made a shred of difference for me... but it seems that if it were a key/lib issue, I would not get any playback, but rather a bd+ or aacs error.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[MCKitch]

Mr Wolf,
Sounds like you're set up well (except for the issues )
As for the BD ISO images I use, I think the feature to play BD ISO images natively was added to VLC 3. Prior to that VLC needed to mount the image as a virtual disc. So now both DVD and BD images play natively, which is great for my preferences. It's just that I've run into a set of BDs that have a menu format that VLC can't play!

jj94tt,
I'm no expert but it looks to me like you have an issue with your graphics engine. I think you're right about it not being a key or lib issue. I agree you wouldn't get any playback if it were a key or lib issue. You may be hitting the wall with (graphics) memory buffering or GPU processing. I've noticed that BD playback is more demanding on computing resources than is DVD playback, which stands to reason considering the larger amounts of data being processed. You could examine the resource monitor in Task Manager (on Windows 10 at least) to check if there are any bottlenecks.

[Mr Wolf]

I'm not sure if you have problems downloading, but in the official download page, here:
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
you can find both 32 & 64 bit versions.
You have just to click the down arrow beside "Download" (which could not be so obvious ).

[VladimirII]

State-of-the-art for playback is since 2015:
Get the libaacs.dll on https://vlc-aacs.whoknowsmy.name
Get a KEYDB.cfg and put it in the appropriate folder for your OS you are using.

The biggest and most recent List/Database for KEYDB.cfg you get with the Synchronize function of 'FindVUK'. For this function you don´t need DVDFab or anything else. With this list all referenced AACS encrypted discs will play, it´s said all AACS2.0 (UHD) encrypted titels in the list will play.

If you have a BD+ encrypted Blu-Ray you need all from above plus one of the many 'Libbdplus.dll'-Sets.
And put the 'vm0' Dataset in the appropriate folder for your OS.
Now comes the catch.

...pixelization is the way BD+ works. [...] libbdplus can only decode very old discs from 2007/2008. It will not work for recent discs.

(http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p ... ost1741101)
Newer BD+ Blu-Rays will not play directly with VLC. If tweacking your VLC seetings resolves 'pixelization' it was not because it is a BD+ Blu-Ray, your system has an error and is not set up properly or is not powerful enough for playback.

To watch newer BD+ encrypted Blu-Rays you need always additional software.
A stable method is to use MakeMKV, from which you can put a plugin into VLC to use the decryption from MakeMKV.
It only works for free as long as they are updating their Beta-Key. Because it has to be activated to work.

Until the libbdplus Project revives to update BD+ decryption, if you only want to playback Blu-Rays you realy should consider to buy an official Videoplayer when you´r going to pay money for a software to be able to. Also because it is a legal grey area to make an unofficial player able to play encrypted stuff (That´s why it is not part of the official VLC release). It´s not worth the trouble when start spending money.

[timelord327]

Every blu-ray I've tried has worked, however when it comes to the Firefly blu-rays I get the error message:

This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for BD+ decoding, and your system does not have it.

However, the BD+ encryption isn't a recent one, from 2008. (21:30:46 - BD+ : 1 - Date 2008.09.15 / Gen 4)
Any ideas?
To clarify I have both libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll in my VLC root folder.

**UPDATE**
Have checked versions of .dll files and I was using a win64 libbd.dll instead of 32. Having changed this, I now get the error message:

Your system BD+ decoding library does not work. Missing configuration?

[timelord327]

This solved my above issue:

Instead, I used the dll's from the current MakeMKV program installation (see this thread).

MakeMKV is a 32-bit program, so presumably the dll's from its installation wouldn't work in a 64-bit install of VLC (although I'm not 100% certain of this), hence the recommendation to use 32-bit VLC PLayer.

In the MakeMKV subfolder of Programs (x86), you'll find a file called libmmbd.dll. Copy this to the VLC folder, and rename it to libaacs.dll. Copy that same file from the MakeMKF folder again to the VLC folder, and this type rename it to libbdplus.dll.

[timelord327]

New issue, when playing any disc from the Star Wars The Complete Saga boxset I get the following problem. The player displays the message, your Blu-ray player requires an update, and I cannot play the discs. I'm using MakeMKV libmmd.dll as my libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll libraries. Any ideas? I briefly had the same issue with another 21st century fox blu-ray release, but that skipped quickly over the message.

[candela]

New issue, when playing any disc from the Star Wars The Complete Saga boxset I get the following problem. The player displays the message, your Blu-ray player requires an update, and I cannot play the discs. I'm using MakeMKV libmmd.dll as my libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll libraries. Any ideas? I briefly had the same issue with another 21st century fox blu-ray release, but that skipped quickly over the message.

The Fox title is likely BD+ protection. The menu's interact with the BD+ Virtual Machine and expect certain data to be returned. If the data is wrong (e.g. hacked player detected), the menus jump to a "please update your player" screen. Could be a bug in libbluray which doesn't emulate the menu's properly or in MakeMKV libmmd which doesn't completely emulate BD+ for these titles. Try playing without menus

Star Wars doesn't have BD+ protection as far as I know so it's likely a bug in libbluray

[timelord327]

Thank you, it worked without menus. It's a bit strange because every other bluray works just fine with menus, weird that only this one is affected.

[MCKitch]

6) Ripping to me is to copy the whole DVD / blu-ray content (folders and files) with protection removed on the hard disk, for example with DVDFab. So, you make an iso from DVD / blu-ray, but untouched, with files still protected? I think (this works for sure with DVDs) you can directly open the iso with VLC (right click -> open with), without mounting the iso (DAEMON Tools?), just the same result as trying to open directly the DVD / blu-ray folder ripped on the hard disk (VLC -> Media -> Open folder). Just I'd be curious to know if this works also with protected DVD / blu-rays.

My apologies Mr Wolf. Been away for a while and I missed the bit I quoted above.

Notwithstanding VladimirII's comments about spending money for this, I decided on shelling out some $$$ for the DVDFab solution because they totally remove the copy protection. I've bought from them a thing call Passkey which appears to be a cutdown version of their full DVDFab GUI, or at least uses a similar algorithm. It appears to essentially do the same thing as some of the freeware or shareware products like BurnAware. However BurnAware et al do 'raw' ISO copies so you then need a solution like FindVUK (or others) to manage the copy protection. It doesn't cost you any money but you have to do more work such as running FindVUK (or others) to update your KeyDB so that VLC is happy. So I think it comes down to convenience. Do the the work and pay nothing or pay (a little) and do less work. It's really your choice. To be clear, VLC will play both 'raw' and 'massaged' (by Passkey) ISOs. The only difference is with 'raw' you need an entry in the KeyDB file but with a 'massaged' ISO, VLC plays it as if it was an unprotected medium.

[MCKitch]

I meant to add one additional comment.

As you've pointed out, there are some ethical 'grey' areas about providing a solution to defeat copy protection - even if you're only doing it for your own library and have no intention of doing it for commercial gain. So I think the VideoLAN organization is rightly very cautious about providing a potentially illegal solution.

[lbyler]

I don't understand the discussion of keydb.cfg and libaacs.dll, but I tried to put them where everyone here says they should go.

What I do understand is that I am running VLC 3.0.6 on Win7 64 bit. And before I installed Java, when I played a Blu-ray .iso I got a message similar to "Java is not present, so I'll play the main title directly." Which VLC did.

Then I installed Java (yes, the 64-bit version). Now VLC plays through all "first-play" items until it gets to the first menu. It displays the menu, and its soundtrack, but the menu itself is inoperative. I cannot select any item on the menu, so the menu simply loops.

I tried this on both "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and on a Game of Thrones Blu-ray.

Can anyone explain?

[candela]

I don't understand the discussion of keydb.cfg and libaacs.dll, but I tried to put them where everyone here says they should go.

What I do understand is that I am running VLC 3.0.6 on Win7 64 bit. And before I installed Java, when I played a Blu-ray .iso I got a message similar to "Java is not present, so I'll play the main title directly." Which VLC did.

Then I installed Java (yes, the 64-bit version). Now VLC plays through all "first-play" items until it gets to the first menu. It displays the menu, and its soundtrack, but the menu itself is inoperative. I cannot select any item on the menu, so the menu simply loops.

I tried this on both "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and on a Game of Thrones Blu-ray.

Can anyone explain?

Did you try the keyboard arrow/enter keys? bluray menus don't work with mouse

[MCKitch]

I'd just like to confirm that as of v3.0.6 the navigation keys work as you said. (The mouse clicks, also as you said, do not work but, IMO, that's not such a big deal )
BTW, I have installed the latest Java update - if that matters.
Also BTW, I confirmed this on a 'Game of Thrones' season 7 ISO (BD) file.

[cris2k]

Hi, ive just bought a BR player and tried to run a BR disc in it. after reading around apparently i need libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll, but the website where they are hosted seems to be down and possibly no longer available (https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/win64/) Does anyone know of an alternate source? ive been searching google for a few hours and all websites and forum posts just rdr back to the aforementioned.